Reasons Why Organs From Deceased Donors Were Not Accepted for Transplantation

The rate of organ donations from deceased donors in Turkey is among the lowest in the world. We analyzed the reasons why some potential donors whose families had given consent did not become actual solid organ donors.

We retrospectively reviewed the organ donation, retrieval, and transplantation registries of 102 potential donors from the Ministry of Health Organ and Tissue Transplant Coordination Centre of Istanbul Region from the year 2015.

Cardiac arrest occurred in 8 of the potential donors while waiting for organ procurement or during surgery. The organ specific suitability ratio was 83% for kidneys, 82% for livers, 72% for hearts, and 75% for lungs. Of these suitable organs, the transplantation rates were as follows: kidneys 88%, livers 70%, hearts 30%, and lungs 13%. Medical reasons (donor unsuitable) (14%-24%) and poor organ function (2%-24%) were the reasons most organs were not accepted for transplant. These reasons included diabetes insipidus, electrolyte imbalance caused by neuro-humoral changes, inotrope/vasopressor requirement for hemodynamic instability, hypoperfusion, and myocardial dysfunction after brain death.

The mismatch between organ donation and demand is a major problem worldwide. In addition to low organ donation rates, late diagnosis of potential donors or inappropriate management of the pathophysiological consequences of brain death reduce the number of transplantable organs even more in our country. In order to overcome these setbacks, we need education programs to improve quality and decrease donor losses in an intensive care unit goal-directed protocol for the management of potential donors.